Prayers for Egypt

February 1, 2011

Certainly continuing to pray for the people of Egypt, for peaceful times in the wake of what looks like more challenging news. This has got to be so hard for folks to hear as they’ve been making more strident demands.

It does seem like the uprising is secular at this point, and not fundamentalist from any particular faith community. That’s heartening. Maybe people of all faiths (and no faiths) will be free to worship as they choose without repercussion when the time for change comes. The current line seems to be that folks are asking for a transition to democracy. I also know that our country tends to try to foster democratic movements around the world, as if the way we’ve been doing things is the best regardless of context. As we know from protests here, our system may be considered the best by many, but it’s not without flaws and critics and challenges.

I pray that the people of Egypt will demonstrate peacefully. I pray that they will be heard by their leaders. I pray that they will not be bullied, and that the folks called in to quell their activities do so with compassion and humility, rather than with machismo or pride.

I pray for Mubarak and his family in what must be a very trying time.

I offer a prayer for politics to be politics as UNusual in this case:God, Egypt has been so important to our story as Christians. We know that sometimes tensions between Egypt and Israel have risen too high. Please be with the Egyptian people and leaders and help them to hear one another. Help our country to be a good neighbor and resource to them when we can. Amen.